I am such a slug. If I was any sluggier, I’d have tentacles and leave a trail of slime behind me as I VERY SLOWLY slithered about. In order to check to see if there were any usefully named parts of a slug for the previous sentence, I was forced to google “parts of a slug” and now I’m all icked out. I’ve been on Wikipedia a lot lately; Google consistently leads me there. I learned the other day, just by random chance, that the bugs I have always called Daddy Longlegs are not, in fact, a Daddy Longlegs spider. They are Harvestmen. Did you know this? It wasn’t because I was interested in spiders or daddy longlegs…Wikipedia led me there by some intricate route of tangents and links.
In case you didn’t know, THIS is a Harvestman, which is not actually a spider, though it’s an arachnid (which is what I thought made a spider a spider). This is a Cellar Spider, which is also called Daddy Longlegs and is the only one of THREE insects so called which is actually a spider. The third of the creatures which is often referred to as a Daddy Longlegs is a FLY: the Crane Fly. Which amuses me, because we always refer to Crane flies as Skeeter Eaters. They don’t eat mosquitoes, though, more’s the pity.
In fact, I think Crane flies might have some of the best nicknames ever. In various places, in addition to daddy long-legs and skeeter eaters, they are also called gallinippers and gollywhoppers. Gallinippers & Gollywhoppers! That’s awesome.
Interestingly, though probably only to me, the word slug is probably of Scandinavian origin, having come to Middle English as sluggard from the Norwegian word slugga which means to walk sluggishly. Hmm…circular reasoning anyone? So, really, and grammatically speaking, when I’m declaring how lazy I am being, I shouldn’t be referring to myself as a SLUG. Slugs are, unless hibernating, quite energetic apparently, and some species can actually destroy foliage faster than the plants can grow.
HOWEVER, this particular fact that Wikipedia states has caused me to want to scrub out my brain: In a few rare cases, humans have contracted parasite-induced meningitis from eating raw slugs.
I’m sorry, but fut the whuck? That would infer that most cases of eating raw slugs do NOT end up with meningitis, and HELLO WHY WOULD ANYONE EAT A RAW SLUG?! Or any slug, for that matter? I am not going to google further. I AM NOT GOING TO GOOGLE THIS.
Really Great Writing Out There Right Now: Arranged for Milking (via Mimi Smartypants)
Currently Crushing on: Tootsie Fruit Rolls. Yum yum!
Bang! Pow! Badoom! Belated Birthday Wishes to alcesalces and Chuck!